I Am the Light, You Are the Light
By Jessica Brodie
I’m a lot like a moth, so desperately and inexplicably drawn to the light that I really can’t help myself. Can you relate?
I mean this literally and figuratively. If there’s a patch of sunlight anywhere nearby, I scooch myself over so I can feel it warm my skin. if there’s a glimmer of morning light peeking in my room (in spite of the barricade of light-blocking shades my husband has decided it’s best to install in our bedroom!) I’m ready to get up. If there’s a spotlight and a stage, I usually want to be up there. It’s kind of ridiculous, but it’s true.
I know, of course, that I’m really drawn to the light, the source, that is our Lord of the Universe. That’s the light that really matters. All of us who belong to the Lord are drawn to this light, crave this light. Even when we’re warring with ourselves and our selfish ways compete, even when we try to run from it, deep down it’s what we all want. I’m convinced of this.
Demons fear the light. Light drives out the darkness. The Bible is filled with so many crucial messages about the importance and the glory of the light, the light of the world, the light that started at all. God’s very first command when he set the world in motion was “Let there be light,” and oh, it certainly was good (Genesis 1). John tells us in verse that Jesus is the light (John 1:9). Jesus tells us this himself (John 8:12).
But our Savior says something else fascinating—he says we are the light as well. In Matthew 5:13-16, Jesus talks powerfully about how we, too, shine his light. We are commanded to do so. He tells us that nobody puts lights a lamp and puts it underneath the basket but instead sets it on the table for all to see. “You are the light of the world,” Jesus Christ himself tells us.
No, we’re not the light because we are so great on our own. We are not the light because of anything we do. We are the light because we are connected to the source. Just like with electricity: Any wire fused with the master wire also lights up the house. Or like a fire: If there is a crackling log aflame and someone sets another (dry, unlit) log just close enough, that new log ignites, too, and becomes part of the whole. The fire then becomes the fire together, one big powerful blaze. You can’t really see the separate flickering flames anymore.
It's how it is with us. Together with Christ, we are the light of the world. Together with each other, the body of believers, we are the light of the world. When people look at the light and us, they see Jesus. It’s how they know Jesus! It’s how they learn the truth that is the good news of the Gospel message, for when we shine that light, it can’t be hidden. And it sparks everything around it into light as well.
Some of us try to stifle our light. Maybe unintentionally, we put God in a box and compartmentalize him just for Sundays or just for home. Or perhaps we let other priorities get the top shelf. It doesn’t get rid of the light, but it’s harder for other people to see the light when we do this. And it’s harder for us to shine as brightly as we could.
Sometimes other concerns serve like a curtain or a cloth we put over a lightbulb, and that light we are meant to shine grows so dim no one can even see it anymore.
If it goes out completely, what a horrible, tragic thing.
A fire is meant to be kindled, and a light is meant to shine.
There are things we can do to help the light grow in us and shine more powerfully. We can pray and stay in connection with God constantly. We can read his Holy Word, the Bible, and talk about him and think about him constantly. We can gather with other believers for worship, Bible study, prayer, or simple connection as together we are still and rest in his glory.
We can believe with all of our hearts and minds and souls, letting the Holy Spirit take over and move like a mighty wind, just like it did on that very first Pentecost 2,000 years ago (Acts 2:1-4).
The apostle Paul talks a great deal about letting the Jesus in us, the Spirit in us, the holy within us, take over and become our most important thing. He talks about dying to self (Galatians 2:20) and about allowing the self to decrease so the Lord can increase (1 Corinthians 2:1-5), echoing what John the Baptist said was necessary in John 3:30.
That is where I am at this point in my life. It’s a process, and it’s not easy. Pride gets in my way so many times.
But I am not meant to be an island, a raft adrift in the sea. I am part of the sea, part of the light, part of the whole, and I truly want to be.
This week, please remember with me: We are the light pointing to the source. We point to Jesus. And we lead others to the way. Amen.
Have you ever done an Advent daily devotional? It’s a helpful and personal way to experience the four weeks leading up to Christmas. Please consider my new book, Preparing Our Hearts, designed to start Dec. 3 through Christmas. Available as an ebook and paperback: click here.
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